Positive SW Movie Thread

TPM
Duel of the Fates is my favorite lightsaber battle.

AotC
Coruscant looks gorgeous at night. It reminds me of Blade Runner and The Fifth Element.

RotS
Ian McDiarmid does a great job a Palpatine. He steals the show.

Solo
I love Enfys Nest.

R1
I love the darker tone, space battle, and cameos from Red Leader and Gold Leader. It meshes perfectly with and enhances the Original.

SW
I still think of the trench run often when I'm driving.

TESB
I love the AT-ATs, Yoda, and the cinematography when Luke first confronts Vader.

RotJ
I like the concept of the Ewoks defeating the technologically superior Imperial forces.

TFA
The blending of old and new hits me just right.

TLJ
I could write an essay on how great I think Luke's arc is and the lessons regarding failure.

TRoS
Pure unhindered Star Wars indulgence. This movie celebrates all the fun of a galaxy far, far away.

 

TPM - Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon together .Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul.
AOTC- bounty hunter chase scene.Jango Fett vs Obi-Wan.
ROTS- everything from the opera scene onwards till the end.Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader is star wars most intense lightsaber battle.
ANH- Entire movie.Obi-Wan becomes one with the force.
ESB-Everything. Dagobah scenes have this fairy tale vibe i love it.
ROTJ-Lukes rescue plan..just kidding.All of it.The emperor vs Luke.
TFA- when Rey grabs the lightsaber at Starkiller base.my favorite scene.
TLJ- Luke force projecting himself across the galaxy.
TROS- Ben Solo returns as a Jedi.Ben vs KOR.

 

TPM -The Jedi

AOTC- Obi Wan

ROTS - Hayden Christiansen is great in this movie.

ANH - My favorite. Love the Adventure it takes us on with Luke

TESB - Dagobah training

ROTJ - Vader saving Luke

TFA - Rey's forceback

TLJ - Luke projecting himself

TROS - Ben's redemption

Rogue One - K-2S0

SOLO - Han meeting Lando

 

I may have gone a little longer with these answers ... “I think you overdid it” - Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Phantom Menace
The theme of symbiosis - living beings working together for mutual advantage, otherwise known as helping each other, something Shmi instilled in Anakin - is both a beautiful basis for all that was right about the Jedi philosophy whilst at the same time is the truth which the Sith twist and distort into lies in order to manipulate Anakin into a position where he becomes Vader.

Attack of the Clones
For me, I love Episode II for being the most unashamedly ‘pulpy’ Star Wars film, where George Lucas pushed everything to the furthest extremes of its serial-inspirations, from the acting, dialogue and arguably even the title. At times it’s a noir detective story, a hallmark romance, dystopian sci-fi, gladiatorial survival epic, full-on war movie, political thriller, buddy cop movie, Western, fantasy.

Revenge of the Sith
The last Star Wars movie George Lucas made feels to me that took everything he’d learned and wanted to do with the others and tied the saga with a big bow on top right in the middle. The way in which RotS tied together the PT and OT with the creation of Darth Vader was done how George wanted, and in a way that still left enough space for more answers, imagination and stories in the future. I love RotS for being the culmination of Lucas’ Star Wars, the way he wanted it, and I am so glad we got that.

A New Hope
The foundation of the entire Star Wars universe is both simple and complex - it gives us the essential structure the trilogy, then saga uses. It’s the ‘acorn’ from which grew a mighty oak. It’s a tale of good vs evil that tells us evil will always plant the seeds of is own destruction if only we will recognise them and not be deceived and/or tempted by what power or selfishness offers. The Death Star is the classic tale of David and Goliath, and a story of keeping hold of hope in situations that may seem overwhelmingly hopeless.

The Empire Strikes Back
Episode V made the galaxy far, far away seem so much larger and deeper in every way. Darth Vader has a boss! A city in the clouds! Giant asteroids! Force lessons with Yoda! And that reveal. TESB remains my favourite movie because it follows its own advice, and succeeded in doing what might have seemed to be asking the impossible and actually improve ANH by believing in itself. The scene of Luke being astonished by Yoda pulling his X-wing from the swamp is just cinema at its finest, IMHO.

Return of the Jedi
I love the whole movie, but the scenes between Vader, Luke and Emperor Palpatine are insanely great. This will quite an unoriginal one, but the moments where Luke is taunted into fighting by the threat to Leia, and ending with him realising he almost became another Vader, looking at his own hand and Vader’s stump in turn is just fantastically great. And the music that Williams cooked up when the lightsaber fight is raging and the camera tracks across with the broken walkway and the choral elements of the music come in so strongly, is all so immensely powerful.

The Force Awakens
It’s not my favourite Star Wars movie, or even my favourite ST movie, and yet TFA does what it does so brilliantly. That is, it reintroduces some things we’ve seen before, adds new stuff we haven’t, but makes it all feel like a natural progression of what came before. The thing I love about TFA is the thing lots of us hate about TFA - we don’t get the old gang back together with some new supporting characters - we get new leads and the old guys are supporting characters. It’s a choice we may not think we wanted at times, but it’s the only way the ST and the saga could have moved forward I think. And I think subsequent events and movies have proven it to be a very wise approach.

The Last Jedi
Episode VIII is a puzzle wrapped in a riddle placed in an enigma and shaped into a question mark. And I love that about it. Everyone finds truth in their failures. There are things Luke teaches Rey that he is, I think, completely correct about, even as he himself has made the wrong choice. I feel like I’ve thought about and discussed TLJ about as much as any movie I can remember and the thing I love about it most is that it gave us this glorious puzzle to unscramble, probably for the rest of our lives. Some people really don’t like puzzles. But the amazing part is,I think it even gives us the solution to the puzzle right there up on the screen at the end of the movie. How to be a Jedi by how not to be a Jedi. How context can turn something from being utterly wrong to being utterly right. A Force, a tension... a balance. That lesson to Rey where she describes to Luke what she can see with her feelings says so much about everything in Star Wars to me.

The Rise of Skywalker
‘I am all of the Star Wars’. That pretty much sums it up. And it’s phenomenal. It’s a movie that folds the structure of the films back on itself like something out of Inception or Doctor Strange, whilst still ending the sequel film trilogy in ostensibly ‘normal’ narrative terms, as well as tying the 9-film saga together. And it works as a simple, fun adventure story with some McGuffins and set pieces too. ‘I am all of the Star Wars’!

Rogue One
This film is wonderful because it’s so exhilarating to see a full feature film in the Star Wars universe which both is and isn’t part of the Skywalker saga... it gave us a taste of what Star Wars could be in the new ‘Disney era’ and how with a little imagination and a huge amount of time, effort and resources the potential is almost unlimited. It’s a sequel, prequel and ‘side-quel’. It’s like looking into an alternate reality and seeing how Star Wars is there for a couple of hours.

Solo
I love Solo for its adventure, dark aesthetic (worked for me!) and characters, but most of all I love it as a meditation on freedom. When are we free? Freedom isn’t just anarchy, it is, in some ways, a distinct and personal series of choices. And the ability to make those choices. And this theme runs through every major character and storyline in Solo. How sadly ironic I find it if the film’s perceived underperforming financially cost us, the fans, more Star Wars films made with such a spirit of freedom. I’m not saying we won’t get continue to get great content, but I’ll always wonder what a $1billion+-grossing Solo would have meant for the kind of freedom in filmmaking choices we might have got going forward. But we have Solo, and that’s a great thing.

 

@Porco Azzurro Tremendous, thoughtful and superb work on this thread! Your thoughts on ROTS echo mine exactly and why I rank it higher on my list, higher than TESB for example. And don't forget the opening sequence of ROTS - as a space battle fanatic THAT one is near the top of the list in all SW!

 

Thanks for the kind words! I agree the opening battle over Coruscant in RoTS is stunning, I absolutely love it and don’t feel it gets the credit it deserves. Totally visually referenced in TRoS with the reveal of when all the ships turn up too.

 

Love reading these responses and I love what the heart of this thread is all about - positivity. It’s tough to find currently and I feel like many people take for granted these fun and exciting films that we’re lucky enough to have been given.

 

Fortunately, I really like most of the Star Wars movies. At worst, I feel meh about like three of the movies and love all the others.

The Phantom Menace: I really enjoy Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the dynamic between the two. Same goes for Darth Maul and Darth Sidious. The podrace and Theed battle are fun and I like how this one feels the most “standalone” of any of the saga movies. It feels really unique both in its special-effects and score.

Attack of the Clones: Obi-Wan and Jango Fett’s fights on Kamino and in the Geonosis asteroid field are awesome. The scene in the Tusken village is the best part of the movie in my opinion: it’s Hayden’s best scene in either of his movies IMO and it’s also a believable start towards Anakin’s fall to the dark side. It was cool seeing the Lars homestead again.

The Clone Wars: While I barely count this as a movie, it started off a series that I love. The scene where Anakin accepts Ahsoka as his Padawan is one of their best moments. The battle on Teth with the AT-TEs walking up the side of a mountain was dope and is arguably the most creative Star Wars battle out there. Having Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee reprise their roles for this film was pretty cool.

Revenge of the Sith: Plenty of action to enjoy. Arguably features Ian McDiarmid’s best performance as Palpatine. The Battle of Coruscant is amazing. The soundtrack for the entire film is incredible and is without a doubt the best John Williams score in my eyes. (For Star Wars anyway.) Anakin and Obi-Wan having more banter and friendky moments in this film compared to the other two prequels.

Solo: Fun movie (with a surprisingly good soundtrack) that I can pretty much watch at any time. Enfys Nest is pretty badass. I really enjoyed Woody Harrelson’s performance as Tobias Beckett. The new ship designs fit in really well with the time the film takes place in. The Sabaac scenes were fantastic. I really enjoyed the scenes in the Spice Mines of Kessel, as well as the Kessel Run itself. Alden Enhrenreich’s performance as Han Solo is great and seeing him in future content (probably on Disney+) is my biggest Star Wars wish at the moment.

Rogue One: Great connective tissue with the Original Trilogy and an enjoyable enough movie on its own. Darth Vader’s scenes are great of course, but I also really enjoyed Director Krennic’s character and his dynamic with Tarkin. I appreciate Cassian and Saw’s characters much more now. Chirrut and K2SO were fantastic characters. The Battle of Scarif was incredible. Like with Solo, I really liked the new ship designs as they fit in really well with this era. (In general, I really like this shared aesthetic that these two films and Jedi: Fallen Order all share.) i appreciate the soundtrack more now that I’ve listened to it on its own.

A New Hope: The movie that started all. Every thing in it is great and I don’t have any qualms with it other than Special Edition changes and Leia never mourning for Alderaan or ever acknowledging it ever again in the follow-up films. I love watching Luke, Leia, and Han together in this movie, as these are three of my favorite Star Wars characters and we never see them together as much in any of the other films.

Empire Strikes Back: Again, everything in it is great for me. In my eyes, Luke, Han, and Leia’s characters were the greatest they’ve ever been in this film. All of the stuff on Cloud City and Dagobah is incredible in my eyes and Lando’s character was a fine addition to the Original Trilogy cast. The Battle of Hoth is the best Star Wars battle IMO and this film has the second best soundtrack in my eyes.

Return of the Jedi: For me, the battle at the Sarlacc pit is the most exciting and exhilarating Star Wars scene. All of the stuff with Luke, Vader, and the Emperor is great. The scenes in the Ewok village are pretty underrated in my eyes. The Battle of Endor was the best space battle in my opinion, though Scarif and Coruscant are close. Anakin’s redemption is beautiful and the ending was perfect for the original films.

The Force Awakens: Introduced us to some great new characters and re-introduced us to some classic characters. As derivative as it is, I really don’t mind Starkiller Base. Everything from the Han Solo death scene to the end of the film is especially great. The Rey and Kylo Ren lightsaber fight is one of my favorites in the entire series. All around, it was a very entertaining movie. Also BB-8.

The Last Jedi: Completely unpredictable and boldly challenges some of the core ideas of Star Wars. It has jaw—droppingly gorgeous scenery and one of the best scores. This was Adam Driver’s best performance as Kylo Ren and I started to love his character after seeing this movie. I appreciated Luke’s arc and I reallh enjoyed Rey in this movie as well. Poe’s arc from hotheaded pilot to leader was really good. The Throne Room battle is a fantastic action scene and the scene with Yoda’s ghost is one of the best Yoda scenes in my eyes. I really like the design of the Supremacy inside and out. The Battle of Crait was awesome and so were, Luke’s final moments (especially with Leia.) Also Porgs.

The Rise of Skywalker: Rey and Kylo Ren’s dynamic continues here and is one of the highlights of this movie too. I loved both of their duels, with the Force bond duel being the most imaginative duel yet and the Kef Bir duel possibly being my favorite lightsaber duel. Seeing Leia in this film was pretty special and I’m glad that they were able to respectfully pull it off. (RIP Carrie.) It was cool seeing the Tantive IV again and I really liked the design of Ajan Kloss. While Kylo was great as ever in this film, I also loved what little we saw of Ben Solo in this film. (Especially with him finally wielding the Skywalker saber.) The scene on Ahch-To was great and I just loved seeing Luke’s spirit in this movie. The scene between Ben/Kylo and the memory of Han Solo was incredible and the best part of the film for me. I wasn’t sure about the ending at first, but I really like it now. Rey’s new lightsaber looks dope! The shot of Luke and Leia’s Force Ghosts might have been my favorite shot in the whole film.

 

TPM - Great desings, soundtrack and Maul.
AOTC - Kamino, detective Obi wan and Jango.
ROTS - Owen, Beru e Luke and the twin suns.
ANH - Everything.
TESB - Everything.
ROTJ - Palpatine, Luke x Vader and the space battle.
TFA - Everything. ( maybe not the rathars).
TLJ - Everything.
TROS - Rey becoming a Skywalker, Quest of Kylo for the wayfinder and Palps, Exegol, apparition of Luke and flashbacks.
RO - Space battle of Scariff, Vader, Tarkin and Leia.
Solo - Enfys Nest.

 

Verily, I will begin:

Phantom Menance:

• Darth Maul's sexy tattoos
• The architecture and aesthetics of Naboo
• Pod-racing makes my heart race
• Dead gungans

Attack Of The Clones

• Sequence in the droid factory- is that a Metropolis reference?
• Battle of Genosis
• The sophistication of Dooku
• Extermination of those filthy sand people
• The courtship scenes between Anakin and Padme

Revenge of The Sith

• General Grievous
• Dooku's unorthodox weigh loss
• That duel scene with Anakin and Kenobi
• The killing of the separatist leadership
• Palpatine's sexy face
• Order 66- where are the younglings? There they are.
• The battle of Kasyyyk

Rogue One

• Bor-gullet scene
• Decraniated- oh what I would do with one of those...
• Vader sequence in the corridor
• Battle of Scarif
• Death star Jedha sequence

A New Hope

• Opening sequence
• Intro to Death Star to Luke- it is not a space station but a mobile fortification, it seems pedantic
• 
  
• Duel of Kenobi and Vader

The Empire Strikes Back

• Battle on Hoth
• Aesthetics of Bespin
• Duel with Vader and the revelation of his lineage
• Han is trapped in carbonite

Return of the Jedi

• Leia slave costume- saw this as a teenage boy and of course this ignited my own lightsaber (6 times a day)
• Singer gets eaten by Rancor
• Luke's enemies being vored by the Sarlaac
• Ewoks
• Battle of Endor
• Palpatine is like a fine wine, he improves with age

The Force Awakens

• New waifus acquired (Kylo Ren, Phasma, Snoke)
• Takodana Castle sequence
  
• Beginning sequence
• Who's yo daddy
• ,

The Last Jedi

• All of it with the exception of Canto-Bight which I feel could have taken place in a separate film

Rise of Skywalker

• Costume design of those Middle Eastern looking aliens, so many bright colours
• Aesthetics of Exegol- nice use of Ralph's original art by the way
• Asset spamming when all the ships come in from Hyperspace- people think it is sad given its connotations regarding the whole creative approach, I just think it was hilarious
• Power up the Bass Cannon
• Return to Tatooine